OK those of you who have been following for a while will already know about my complete love and adoration, with a mightly dose of respect and gratitude for what she does - aimed squarely at Jane Davenport. If I hadn't met Jane at the Brisbane Scrapbooking and Papercraft Expo a few years ago I probably wouldn't have started drawing, she literally changed the course of my life! Since then I've enrolled in pretty much every online course she has... Read more →

Today I will be showing you how to create your own masks and stencils to use with Copic markers and the Copic airbrush. I will be using plain acetate sheets, a wonderful low-tac product called Mask It (from X-Press It) and to finish I will be using lace or grandma's old doilies laying forgotten in the linen press (don't tell my Mum)! What I used: Clear Acetate sheets X-Press It Blending Journal or X-Press It Blending Card Copic Sketch markers... Read more →

Hello hello. A few of you may know I just took the AMAZING Mermaid Circus class online with Jane Davenport and Teesha Moore - swoon! I've had a ball, though in the usual Sparkle Tart fashion I don't think I'll ever finish all of the lessons! One of the challenges was to draw a face and shade using Copic markers, I won't be telling you Jane's secrets for doing this but I will be showing you my results. Now if... Read more →

Today I thought I'd show you a neat little technique for colouring your own shabby flowers. For my regular followers, yes this will look familiar as it bulids on a few posts I did earlier in the year (it uses the same technique). This idea is perfect for those wanting to create shabby chic looks, vintage or even (if you change the colours a little) more realistic effects. I was totally chuffed when asked to share this gorgeous technique with... Read more →

This is my take on the classic Copic dotted background, based on the art technique of pointillism. This is a technique which requires little skill but LOADS of patience as all of those little dots take time. I really enjoy creating this sort of background to use with fantasy images as I love the magical quality of the background. What makes my version a little different is that I love adding Tim Holtz Ranger Industries Distress Ink over the Copic... Read more →

As promised here is a real time clip for Copic beginners, showing you a no stress approach to colouring a basic pretty face using only 3 Copic Markers - E00, E11 and R20. To follow along with this clip you will need: Copic Markers (Sketch or Ciao) R20, E00 & E11 X-Press It Blending Card La-La Land Kimono Marci stamp Memento stamp pad in Tuxedo Black Read more →

Copic journals - where do I begin?? When people talk about Copic Journals they are often discussing different things without even knowing it, from now on I will be calling mine by the following names: Copic Art Journal - a visual art journal or diary in which Copic Markers are used, and Copic Colour Journal - which records colour combinations, ideas on colouring, techniques and often a printed chart with purchased marker colours. Now these could be combined into the... Read more →

This is the third flower technique in my Copic Coloured Flowers series, Flower #1 used 2 colours of Copic markers, Flower #2 used 3 colours from differing families and added in a little bling. This technique ramps up the sparkle power and when combined with some creative Copic combinations produces stunning results. Depending on your flower choice (flat or dimensional) will decide how many colours you can use to create the copic colour of your flower. For smaller flowers fewer... Read more →

This is the second flower in my Copic Coloured Flowers series, Flower #1 used 2 colours of Copic markers, this flower uses 3 colours from differing families and adds in a little bling to create a stunning fantasy flower. This technique really works well on flatter flowers like the gardenia I used here, and though I have used a mulberry paper flower you can use this same technique on fabric flowers also - it looks amazing on satin, though your... Read more →

Let me start this post by saying I take no responsibility for anyone ending up with a Copic flower colouring addiction. I'm warning you all these are fun, soooo easy and give fabulous results every time! This is flower #1 in my Copic Coloured Flower series there are 2 more gorgeous copic coloured flower techniques for you to try coming up next. Please note each technique builds on the one preceding it, so there is some repetition of instructions. Flower... Read more →

Today I will be playing with Copic backgrounds using your Copic Various Inks and Copic Colorless Blending Fluid. As usual you can use these ideas and adapt them for cards or pages and the beauty of these backgrounds is that they are just so versatile! You could die cut this to use on a project, use it as a layer or even stamp directly onto this using an oil based ink pad like Archival ink, to create a simple but... Read more →

Do you like glitter? For me the answer is a total YES - sadly the budget doesn't stretch to owning one of every colour, but luckily I found a way to get any colour I want using 3 simple ingredients and create an almost endless variety of colours! Interested... then read on. What you will need: Fairy Dust Glitter from ClearSnap and Donna Salazar - I like to use Sugar Shimmer, but you can use any pale glitter you own... Read more →

Oooh this is fun - give it a try - a simple technique that I learned many moons ago for rubber stamps using dye inks and water - turns out it's also perfect for Copics and Blending Solution. What I used: Cryogen White card Wild Cherry #65 Poptone card Eclipse Black 100 card Copic markers: YG45, YG25, Y19, R59, R24 & R29 Copic Blending Solution Distress ink: Black Soot and Antique Linen Inkssentials Blending Tool with foam applicator Craft mat... Read more →

OK I couldn't resist any longer I just had to use this stamp and a couple of challenges gave me the push that I needed :) So first I HAD to play with some of my new colours from Lindy's Stamp Gang (couldn't wait any longer!!!!), I wanted to combine this with the Copic Oz Challenge, where I needed to use BV00, G82 and RV21 - I've just learned how to do some copic shadowing with the BV's so this... Read more →

This is probably the Copic technique I am most proud of (this one is all me baby - actually an original idea!) amazing what you can come up with while playing with quality products! I will do a YouTube clip for this as it's a little involved, but here are the basic instructions. I entered this technique in the 'Favourite Copic Technique' challenge over on Copic Creations: Challenge No 47. What I used: X-PressIt Blending card Distress ink pad: Antique... Read more →